Betsu No Sekai
by The Cat's Paw
Summary: After a fight with a space-time warping nukenin, Sakura finds herself in a parallel world where the Uchiha massacre never happened, and she was never born. Can she find her way home, and will she want to go once she does? ItaSaku. M rated for the future.
1. Chapter 1

**Hiya! This is my attempt at getting back into ItaSaku. I've been super immersing myself into Naruto lately to get back into it, and it's working like a charm. I've got ItaSaku, GaaSaku and NejiSaku rolling out of my brain, and it feels good to be getting back into the swing of things.**

 **This fic has been inspired by a few like this that I've been reading. I was thinking 'how would I do it?' and this is what I came up with. Hopefully you'll all like it. ;)**

 **In any case, disclaimer and enjoy, folks!**

 _ **Betsu No Sekai**_

 **Chapter One**

There were explosions everywhere, Sakura was ducking and weaving as she ran. The nukenin responsible for her current predicament was laughing maniacally, enjoying the fact that he had her on the run. The explosions were a combination of chakra induced ones, and paper bombs, with the former mingled in with some kind of space time warping that she'd only ever seen one of the few Uchiha's she'd ever met use. Oh, and Kakashi-sensei, too.

Swearing as one of them went off right in front of her, Sakura dodged once again. "Give up, Leaf-nin!" her enemy guffawed. "You're out matched and out gunned."

' _Never!'_ Sakura swore silently, and took advantage of his cockiness to launch a surprise attack on him. He stumbled at the suddenness of her attack, going on the defensive as she launched her chakra laden fists and feet at him. The explosions stopped at his surprise as he was forced into a taijutsu match with her. He tried blocking, only to have her severely fracture his right ulna and radius. He stumbled in surprise, then further when a kick broke clean through his femur. Another kick cracked several ribs, forcing them inwards and puncturing his lung.

Her opponent then fell to the ground, gasping for air. He coughed up blood, and she knew he was done for. Looking around, Sakura found the knapsack that was the cause of this entire struggle, letting out a triumphant, "Hah!" when she found the forbidden scroll he'd stolen. This was going to go straight back to the Konoha vaults where it belonged.

Sakura was busy concentrating on making sure she had everything, that she didn't notice the nukenin's last action, which happened to be letting off one last explosion, right behind her. There was less of a bang than the others had been, and more space time warping, and it was because of this that, instead of dying horribly in the resulting explosion, Sakura instead saw the innards of some kind of sub-space, before she passed out from the pain of her injuries.

OoOoO

" _Who is she?"_

" _That's a Konoha hitai-ate!"_

" _I don't recognise her though."_

" _We'll take her back to the village, then."_

" _Ssh! She's waking up."_

OoOoO

Sakura groaned as consciousness assaulted her. She blinked rapidly in an attempt to bring her surroundings into focus, and when the first thing she saw was a pair of sharingan eyes, she failed to fully swallow a rather embarrassing squeak of fear, before also failing to scurry away. Every nerve ending along her back and on her head screamed in pain, and she vaguely remembered being part way blown up.

"Whoah, now, careful!" the wielder of the sharingan said, and Sakura blinked a bit more, trying to bring his features into focus.

Once she could clearly see his features, she realised that she didn't recognise him. "Who..." she started to say, then groaned as speaking sent a throbbing echo through her skull. Forcing herself past it, she tried again, "Who are you?"

"I think that's a question _we_ should be asking _you_ ," another voice said, and Sakura swallowed another indignant squeak of fear.

Uchiha Itachi.

Logically, she knew she didn't really need to fear him, since he'd apparently been a loyal Konoha ninja all along. But that aside, he was also supposed to be dead. How was he here now? And who was this other Uchiha, if he really was one? Looking around, she also saw a few others, and was quite relieved to recognise one of them.

"Shika?" she said, and he looked confused.

"You know me?" he asked, and now it was Sakura's turn to look baffled.

"Of course I do," she said. "Nara Shikamaru, lazy-ass genius and jounin rank."

They all looked at each other, and Sakura recognised that they were about to do something like incapacitate her and haul her off to Ibiki for questioning. "What's the last thing you remember before waking up?" Itachi asked.

"I'd just finished taking care of a nukenin," she said. "He'd stolen a scroll and I was sent on retrieval..."

"Just you?" the other Uchiha scoffed, eyeing her doubtfully, and she glared at him.

"Yes, just me!" she snapped at him. "I am more than capable of taking out some idiot nukenin who thought he had the balls to get away with stealing from underneath my shishou's nose!"

"Your shishou?" Itachi asked, his voice enquiring.

"Tsunade-sama," she told him, and she noted varying amounts of surprise on their faces.

"What else happened?" Shika asked a moment later.

"I was just making sure that I had everything," Sakura said. "Bastard must've had one of his bombs left, because he set it off with his last breath. Then I woke up here."

"An ordinary explosion brought you here?" that other Uchiha asked sceptically.

"No actually, it would have been the space-time jutsu merged with it," she told him quite snarkily, then she was thoughtful. "Which I guess also makes no sense, because it was weak as. Hmm. Maybe it was something on this side…"

"Who was this nukenin?" Itachi asked, and Sakura was starting to get tired of his questions, though the look on his face prevented her from sassing him.

So instead, she answered, "Jukodo Osamu. He was from Iwa."

"We just completed a mission to take him out," the fourth, previously silent, person said. "He wasn't easy to deal with, he had a few associates with him."

"The one I fought was alone," Sakura said. "Alone, stupid, and arrogant."

The four ninja before her moved aside to discuss things, and Sakura took that opportunity to channel chakra into her back and head, healing herself. She noted that Itachi'd looked at her sharply as soon as she'd started, before returning his attention to his team mates. Though she was sure he was also keeping a close eye on her. By the time they were done, Sakura was healed and on her feet, though rather unsteadily.

"Perhaps it is truly likely that you are from a different world as you seem to be implying," Itachi said. "The jutsu you described would indeed be capable of that, especially if there was a corresponding action in our reality as well. That aside, you are here now, and protocol demands that..."

"That you take me in and hand me over to Ibiki or someone for interrogation," Sakura interrupted. "Yeah, yeah, let's just get this over with then."

Itachi's sharingan flared then, and as Sakura fell once more into darkness, she really hoped that she would be able to find her way back home.

OoOoO

When she came to again, it was to find herself in one of the nicer 'cells' in the interrogation building. It had a bed, a partitioned off toilet area, and even a TV. But the chakra bars on the window and the fact that the door was undoubtedly locked with a chakra seal reaffirmed that she was indeed a prisoner. She sighed and hoped that her 'visit' here wouldn't take so long that she'd never be able to figure a way back to _her_ Konoha.

The jutsu that was no doubt in place on the room to alert when she woke brought Ibiki along a few moments later, just as she suspected. And also as she suspected, the Hokage accompanied him. However, she _hadn't_ expected the Hokage to be _this_ person. Namikaze Minato stood before her, in all his Legendary (to her at least, she had no idea how he was regarded here) glory. If he was here, then did that mean that Naruto wasn't the jinchuuriki? Or maybe he still was?

"Up," Ibiki barked, and Sakura rolled her eyes before complying.

Ibiki moved forward then, slapping a cuff on her wrist and cutting off all access to her chakra, before leading her out of the room. He and the Hokage lead her three doors down to an interrogation room, shoving her into the seat and closing the door behind them. She saw the Fourth place a seal, for privacy by the looks of it, over the door, then he leaned nonchalantly against the wall even as Ibiki switched on a table lamp and pointed the light at her.

Typical. Even in this bizarre place, Ibiki still liked his intimidation techniques. That was further augmented when he leaned over the table slightly and practically _loomed_ over her.

"State your name for the records," he demanded, and she answered, "Haruno Sakura."

He continued with the basic questions, such as her rank, birth date, and who the local Daimyo was, then he started in with the deeper questions. He demanded to know what she knew of village security, who she was really working for, why she thought Konoha would be an easy target. Of course, she'd answered those last ones with the statement that she _wasn't_ out to trick them, and _wasn't_ trying to steal Konoha's secrets. Ibiki didn't seem to like that.

Finally, he asked useful questions, and Sakura repeated the tale she'd told the others who knew when.

Once she was done, there was silence. "Space time jutsu," the Fourth muttered even as Ibiki looked sceptical. "And yet he was no Uchiha."

"Do they actually have the monopoly on that?" Sakura asked. "Because someone should tell Jukodo Osamu that. And anyone else who might know them."

"Show some respect for the Hokage, girl!" Ibiki snapped.

"I didn't intend to be disrespectful," was all Sakura would say in apology.

"Tell me more about this other world of yours," the Fourth said. "There would naturally be some differences, since your experience with the nukenin was different."

"Well," Sakura started, wondering what she should really say. "For one thing, there's only one Uchiha left alive in my world. Sasuke."

"What happened?" the Fourth asked, interest in his eyes.

"There was a massacre," Sakura said. "When I was about eight. Um… Uchiha Itachi carried it out, under direct orders from the Third Hokage."

A slight brow raising was all the reaction she got, so Sakura continued after sighing, "Also, you're not the Hokage. You're actually dead."

 _That_ got more of a reaction. Ibiki couldn't hide the slight widening of his eyes, and the Fourth stood up straighter, his demeanour more serious. "How did it happen?" he asked.

"Konoha was attacked by the nine tailed demon, the kyuubi," Sakura told him. "You gave your life to seal it away and saved the village. Then the Third came out of retirement to be Hokage again."

"So the Third is Hokage in your world..."

"Actually, he's dead too," Sakura said.

"Is a _nyone_ alive in your world?" Ibiki demanded.

"You are," she told him, smiling sweetly, and he grumbled at her.

"Who's Hokage, then?" the Fourth asked.

"Well, Tsunade-shishou became the Fifth Hokage," Sakura said. "Then Kakashi-sensei became the Sixth. My gennin team mate, Naruto, is in training to be the Seventh."

"Naruto?" Minato asked, looking surprised.

"It's been his life long dream," she told them. "He wasn't even deterred when he realised just how much paperwork there would be. Well, not much, anyway."

"Naruto doesn't want to be Hokage here," Minato said, ignoring the 'look' Ibiki gave him. The Hokage sighed. "No matter. I think this interrogation isn't really going to get us anywhere, you don't seem appropriately terrified of Ibiki, and he's not that useful when he can't intimidate people."

"Hey!" Ibiki complained, and Sakura giggled, earning a glare.

"Sorry," she told him. "But after witnessing some of your interrogations while I was apprenticing under my shishou, well, you just stopped terrifying me at some point."

"There is still something we could try," Ibiki said. "Inoichi."

"That would work better," Sakura agreed, but they ignored her.

The Fourth removed the privacy seal and said, "Alright, we'll be back later with Inoichi. In the meantime, back to your cell."

Left alone, Sakura stared boredly at the walls, waiting until they came back with Inoichi.

OoOoO

Yamanaka Inoichi was rifling through her head, and Sakura was feeling a bit left out. He'd come into the interrogation room she'd been led back into, sat down opposite her, and started going through her memories. She felt his surprise at the sight of his daughter in Sakura's memories, and she was kinda fine with letting him look, but when he came to the barrier she'd locked her Inner behind, she felt it necessary to speak up.

"Please don't let her out," she asked, using a mental image of herself to talk to him. "It took a long time for me to be strong enough to shut her away, and she's such a nuisance, I don't really want her running rampant through my head again."

"Who is she?" Inoichi's own mental image asked.

"I call her Inner Sakura," she told him. "She was born when I was young and a prime target for bullies. She protected me back then, but I grew out of needing her, and now she's just a bother."

"I'll need to confirm that," he said. "Don't worry, I'm quite capable of leaving your mental barrier intact."

It seemed he was right, because a moment later, when he re-emerged, the barrier was fine. Though Inoichi did look a bit flustered. "Sorry about her," Sakura told him with a sympathetic wince, and he just huffed.

This 'interrogation' was soon over, and once he'd withdrawn out of her mind, he spoke to the Hokage. "What she's told you is true," he said. "It seems she really is a Leaf-nin from another universe."

Minato nodded, looked thoughtful a moment, then sighed. "Unfortunately this means I can't hold you any longer," he admitted, ignoring Sakura's eye twitch at his comment of 'unfortunately'. "So I guess we should find you some temporary accommodations until we can figure out a way to get you back to your own world."

"That would be great," Sakura said cheerfully. "So, where will I be staying then?"

 **So what did you think? Personally, I'm not sure, but I wrote it all in one go the other day, along with a third of the next chapter. Still, I know where it's going, just gotta get it out of my head and onto the laptop.**

 **Review please!**

 _Betsu no sekai: Another world, different world. Google translation._


	2. Chapter 2

**Hiya! A new chapter is done, though the first several paragraphs were a bitch, refusing to mesh. I rewrote it at _least_ five times before I was even remotely satisfied with it. :(**

 **So, disclaimer that I don't own the Naruto-verse, and I hope you all enjoy! ;)**

 **Chapter Two**

She woke with a start.

Looking around, Sakura got her bearings, realising she was in the apartment that the Hokage had assigned her. Rather ironically, it was actually Naruto's old apartment. She supposed with the Fourth Hokage still alive, that Naruto had likely been living with his father this whole time, instead of here. She was glad the Naruto here had his father, but felt a sting of jealousy by proxy for her own Naruto, who'd had no one growing up. Well, at least until he had _them_.

Getting up, Sakura had a quick shower and a small breakfast, wondering what the heck she was supposed to do with herself now. Before leaving for this apartment yesterday, the Fourth had told her that she was restricted to a civilian life, basically. It was understandable, they couldn't let someone who wasn't a vetted ninja of the village do anything related to that. No matter that she was a Leaf nin, she wasn't one of theirs.

Leaving the apartment, she decided that she would head to the market place, get a few things with the 'allowance' she'd been given. There had certainly been enough food in the pantry and fridge, but it was mostly just some basics, like staples and instant stuff. Quite frankly, it looked a lot like her Naruto's pantry, with not much substantial to be found. Still, what she'd been given was enough to get more to last until her next stipend.

There were plenty of clothes for her to wear as well, though not much in the style she preferred. That was another thing she was going to have to remedy, but at least she still had the clothes she'd been wearing upon her arrival, though they were filthy and needed a wash. She even still her hitai-ate, though she'd been asked not to wear it for the moment. For now, she'd chosen something that was actually similar to what she'd worn as a gennin, though it was a light blue instead of red.

The market was noisy and busy as normal, and Sakura smiled at the vendors as she purchased things. People she knew greeted her with friendly but recognition free expressions, treating her like just another customer, instead of the friend or close acquaintance she normally was to them. Pretty soon, the basket she'd purchased from a shop for her groceries was full, there was just one fruit stand left.

"Welcome!" the woman who ran it greeted Sakura.

Recognising her as Kichida Noriko, Sakura smiled in greeting and asked, "Do you have any ichijiku or ume? The other two stalls I visited were out."

"Let me just check..." Noriko mused, and popped back to her stock to look into it.

She returned a moment later with a bag of each. "Just these two," she told Sakura, who took them and handed over some money. "Was there anything else?"

Sakura was about to shake her head and take her leave, when she noticed some momotaro tomatoes. Reaching out, she was about to grab the bag, when a hand snatched in and beat her to it. Looking up, she was surprised to see Sasuke standing there. He barely glanced at her as he grabbed the bag, and it was only as he moved forward to pay for them that he noticed her there with her hand still stretched out.

Slowly pulling her hand back, Sakura stared him down, even as he tried to do the same to her. She was used to the intensity of his stares after all, and this Sasuke seemed to be no different. When she didn't look away, he 'tch-ed' and held the money out to Noriko, who took the ryō uncertainly. Sasuke was about to leave then, when a voice stopped him.

"Don't you think that was rude, Sasuke?"

Sakura turned to see Itachi standing there, looking reprovingly at his little brother. "It's alright, Itachi-san," Sakura said, then smirked. "I've heard stories about how much he likes tomatoes, I wouldn't want to deprive him of that joy."

Sasuke glared at her, then huffed away, ignoring them both. Itachi's lips had twitched slightly at her comment, though that hint of it was now gone.

"You seem to be settling well," Itachi told her as she moved away from the stall.

"It hasn't really been that long," Sakura reminded him. "I've been put onto a civilian roster, though I really would prefer to work on a way to get back home."

"I have faith that Hokage-sama is already working on it," he told her.

Sakura glanced up at the visible Hokage tower, then up at the concealed ANBU, one of two assigned to watch her. They weren't easy to detect, but sensing chakra was something a medic-nin needed to excel at.

"That may be," she told the Uchiha who'd decided to walk with her for some reason. "But I'd still rather be involved. I've been encouraged to get a civilian job, you know, but there really isn't anything I'd enjoy doing."

"I'm sure something will come along," Itachi reassured her.

Sasuke reappeared then, glowering at them both, especially Sakura. "What are you still doing back here, aniki?" he demanded. "We've got to get back so we can train."

"I apologise, Sasuke," Itachi said, reaching up and poking his forehead, much to Sakura's amusement, then he turned to her. "Until next time, Sakura-san."

Then they were gone.

It took her a moment to realise, she'd never actually told him her name. Realising he probably knew because his team were the ones to find her, and he'd no doubt been debriefed, Sakura continued on with her shopping, before heading back to her, hopefully, temporary home.

OoOoO

It was late afternoon when she was summoned to see the Hokage.

Sakura stood before the man, waiting as he finished up some paperwork. This felt just like when her shishou would deliberately make someone sweat waiting for her to acknowledge their presence. It mostly happened when she wasn't happy with them, or if she was in a bad mood and needed to take it out on someone. She still remembered that time Gai-sensei's team had stood there for almost twenty minutes waiting for the Sannin to speak…

And then of course she felt a pang, remembering the loss of their precious team-mate.

Eventually, Minato-sama looked up, leaning back comfortably in his chair as he stared at her contemplatively. Oh, hell yeah, he was _definitely_ doing it deliberately! Was this a Hokage thing? Come to think of it, she'd even seen Kakashi-sensei do it too. Steeling her nerve, Sakura simply stood there and waited, until he sighed and straightened up.

"Inoichi-san has completed his report on his search of your mind," the Hokage said. "It's quite a read… You've certainly been through a lot, haven't you? Accomplished things that not many people can."

He glanced up at her forehead briefly, where Sakura's hard earned diamond juin sat, and she restrained herself from reaching up to rub it self-consciously. "The intel we've gathered is invaluable," Minato went on. "Though there are some things that are irrelevant, such as the nine tails attack twenty one years ago, and the attack of Sound and Sand at the chuunin exams. Some things, like the failed Uchiha coup and Danzou's betrayal, on the other hand…

"In your memories, Uchiha Obito was alive and a part of that organisation, Akatsuki… We never recovered his body here, I've no idea if the same thing happened or not. Still, it is a matter worth looking into. In the meantime, Inoichi-san has extended an offer for you to work in his family's flower shop. I'm working out the politics and the paperwork, but I should be able to authorise you for shinobi duty."

Sakura's face lit up, but the Hokage forestalled her, "It will take time, weeks, possibly months. It all depends on the council, really. _And_ it would be limited."

The pinkette winced at the mention of the council, then asked, "So until then, is there no way to figure out how I can get home?"

Minato sighed. "I have some people working on it," he told her. "There are several factors they are looking at, such as what occurred in this world when you arrived, and what you told us and also what Inoichi saw in your memories. I've asked the Uchiha clan leader, Fugaku, for one of his clansmen who specialises in inter-dimensional jutsu, but he's being a stubborn bastard about it."

"Does Kakashi-sensei have a sharingan?" Sakura asked, continuing when he nodded, "In my world, his mangekyou was kamui, he could see into and send things through dimensions."

"It's the same here," Minato told her. "However, he's out on a mission, and is not due to return for several more weeks, barring an emergency."

Changing the subject, he told her, "Even though Inoichi has offered you a place in his shop, you will still be getting your stipend. At least, until I can hopefully clear you for partial shinobi duty."

"Can I still do some training?" Sakura asked.

Nodding, the Hokage said, "I would prefer you only trained with people who know about you, but it is up to you. I'll see about getting you a copy of Inoichi's report, I'd like you to confirm some information, even though he's quite thorough, it's good to..."

"...have things double checked," Sakura finished with him, smiling. "Shishou was always like that, too."

Minato smiled lightly. "Inoichi's expecting you in the morning, you're dismissed."

OoOoO

As Sakura made her way back to the apartment, she found herself walking along a familiar path. Team Seven's training grounds were near here, and she couldn't resist having a look. It seemed to her from Shika's reaction to her when she first arrived in this world that she didn't exist as a ninja. If she _actually_ existed, she had no idea. It seemed unlikely, given the relative freedom she had to just wander around town.

Coming upon the training grounds, she found that they were far more intact than they were in her world, but then, there was no pink haired kunoichi to demolish these ones. That wasn't absolute proof of her lack of existence, just like her being allowed out without something like a disguise. It was pretty damning, though, maybe she'd look into it at some point.

Sighing, Sakura sat on a fallen, mossy log, just staring. She could almost hear Naruto yelling as he attacked Sai head on, getting caught in one of the artist nin's ink animals, only to reveal it was a clone after all. She glanced over at the spot where she'd levelled a devastating attack at Sasuke only three months before she'd left on her mission, shattering a boulder and leaving a huge indent in the ground.

It was untouched, and she sighed at how she was getting lost in her nostalgia. But she missed her boys, dammit! She wasn't entirely sure how long it had been, since she wasn't sure how long she'd been unconscious in Itachi's genjutsu. It was one that she could have easily broken out of, but she'd understood that they would need to take her in, and had allowed it to overwhelm her.

Noises pulled her out of her reverie, and she looked over to see three people headed this way. They were wearing hitai-ate, so a team here for training, then? When they were close enough, Sakura realised that she knew them, a team that became gennin two years after she had. She didn't really feel like sticking around to see these, to her, dopplegangers of people she knew, so she stood and left, though not without them noticing her.

Ignoring their curious stares, she headed back to the apartment before anyone could say anything to her.

OoOoO

 _In another Konoha…_

A chuunin picked up a file, double checking it with another. Someone was overdue, just by a day, though. They would need to keep an eye on this, if the person didn't make contact soon, a retrieval team would be sent out to discover what had happened. Putting the file in the appropriate slot, he went back to work, ignoring the face that smiled up from the paper, the face of Haruno Sakura.

 **So how was it? Next chapter, Ino will be grilling Sakura about flowers. Review please!**

 _Ichijiku: Japanese figs._

 _Ume: Japanese plums._

 _Momotaro: A Japanese hero that a certain tomato is named after._

 _Ryō: An old Japanese currency that's used in Naruto._


	3. Chapter 3

**So, this chapter has ended up a bit longer than I planned. I'd only been trying to get it to a similar count as the other two, but ended up with a 3000 word story, give or take. (Give, really) I blame the muse for the chapter, I kept getting stuck on the second and third section, then the fourth one came out of nowhere!**

 **Still, I hope you enjoy, and disclaimer that I don't own and such. :/**

 **Chapter Three**

Sakura turned up half an hour before Yamanaka flowers opened.

"Hello?" she called, after knocking at the side delivery door, which opened roughly to reveal an irate looking Ino.

"You're Sakura?" she asked, stepping back to allow her in when she received an affirmative. "Alright, I suppose I better give you the tour, then we need to figure out how much you know. Dad said you're pretty knowledgeable, but we'll just see about that."

Sakura followed Ino through to the shop, where everything looked just as it did in her own world. Ino had been pointing out where everything was, where she could and couldn't go, as well as the amenities and the fire escape plan.

"Alright," Ino said. "I want to see just how much you really know. Let's start with naming flowers, and you can tell me their meaning, too."

She picked up a flower and immediately Sakura said, "Tsubaki, which is known as camellia outside the ninja nations. That one is white, which means 'waiting'. The yellow ones mean 'longing'. They also mean humility, discretion, and the perfect love, depending on what flower language book you're reading."

"Not bad," Ino conceded, putting the flower back, then picking another. "This one?"

"Ajisai, also known as hydrangea," Sakura dutifully reported. "They symbolise heartfelt emotions, but also have a negative meaning, that being frigidity and heartlessness."

Ino was looking a little impressed. "What about this one?" she asked.

"…Kikyou," Sakura told her, feeling nostalgic all of a sudden. "It's a bellflower only found in the great nations and surrounding countries, and it symbolises endless love and honesty. But it also has an extra meaning, 'the return of a friend is desired'."

Ino looked at her weirdly even as Sakura _really_ wished she was back home. Then the moment passed and the blonde kunoichi dragged her over to the arrangement bench.

"Alright, tell me what you know about ikebana," she said, arms crossed critically in front of her chest.

"The art of flower arrangement," Sakura said. "Also known as kadō _,_ it's one of three classical arts of refinement, along with kōdō, which is incense appreciation, and chadō, for tea ceremonies and its intricacies. These days ikebana is most commonly practiced by florists, geisha, kunoichi, and monks at Shinto temples, though there are no doubt other people who dabble in it as well."

"Not bad," Ino said, seeming to appreciate her ability. "Maybe dad's right, and you'll fit in nicely here. Alright, I'm gonna grab some flowers, I want you to arrange them properly."

Ino ducked over to one of the flower displays and came back with a bundle. They spent the rest of the time until the shop opened making arrangements, with Sakura impressing Ino to the point that she decided that she could be trusted to put together several of their orders for the day. The blonde went over to man the counter once the shop was opened, though she still kept an eye on her. All in all, Sakura rather enjoyed putting the arrangements together, and ended up finished before lunch rolled around. Ino's mother came in to take over, greeting Sakura warmly once they were introduced, then Ino dragged her off to a nearby café to eat.

"You've really surprised me," she admitted once they were seated. "I've gotta tell you, when dad said he'd hired someone to help out at the shop, I wasn't too happy about it, you may have been able to tell this morning."

"It's fine," Sakura said. "Yamanaka-san is just helping me out until I can get on an active roster."

"Oh, you're a kunoichi?" Ino asked, then grimaced. "I should have guessed. Man, I'm slacking off if I didn't realise that!"

Sakura giggled, and Ino levelled a serious gaze at her. "You know, Sakura," she said. "I really think you and I could be great friends."

"Me too," Sakura said with a smile.

OoOoO

The rest of the week, which was only three more days, passed a little quickly, but Sakura decided that it was because she was enjoying both working at the shop, and becoming Ino's friend again. She hadn't seen Inoichi again, but Ino'd briefly mentioned at one point that he was away on a mission. The two girls had had lunch together each day before heading back to the shop again.

Then on that Friday afternoon, Sakura was dragging flowers out for display when Ino's team mates, Chouji and Shikamaru arrived. Chouji greeted her with an easy grin and a smile, though Shikamaru looked more than a little suspicious.

"Who's the girl?" he asked Ino, even though he was at least partially aware of who she was.

"Oh, this is Sakura," Ino said, introducing them. "Dad offered her a job here after one of his meetings with the Hokage."

"Nice to meet ya, Sakura," Chouji said. "We're all going out to Yakiniku Q tonight, you wanna come?"

"Chouji, I'm sure she has better things to do than hang around with us," Shikamaru said, and Sakura suddenly realised that he was actually trying to prevent it from happening.

"Oh, don't be such a sourpuss, Shika!" Ino scolded. "Sakura's great, I'm sure you'll both get along with her like I do."

"Yes!" Chouji cheered. "Yakiniku and a pretty girl! Tonight's gonna be awesome!"

"Uh, sure, I'd _love_ to come," Sakura said sarcastically to Ino, who just stuck her tongue out. "Thanks ever so much for asking, Ino."

"Oh, uh, _do_ you want to come?" Chouji asked, realising that no one had actually let her answer.

Smiling softly, Sakura said, "I think it'll be great."

Chouji and Ino grinned, while Shikamaru just 'tch-ed'.

Sakura returned to working then, as Ino and Chouji started chatting. Shikamaru followed her under the pretence of helping, causing a surprised expression from Ino, who looked like she wanted to come over and interrogate them, but she was too caught up with Chouji and what he was saying to be able to.

"What exactly is it you think that you are doing here?" Shikamaru hissed quietly at Sakura to make sure they weren't overheard.

"Working," she told him. "It's like Ino said, her father offered me a job here."

"I can't believe that Inoichi-san would allow you this close to his family," he grumbled.

"Well, he did," Sakura snapped at him. "What exactly is your problem? If the guy who invaded my head and went through all my memories to ensure I wasn't a threat thinks it's okay for me to be around his family, then what right do _you_ have to say otherwise?"

Shikamaru glared at her, then sighed. "Fine, but I'm keeping an eye on you," he part way conceded, and wandered back over to Chouji and Ino, the latter of whom immediately started questioning him about why he was bothering Sakura.

OoOoO

"Itadakimasu!"

Sakura grinned as Chouji started piling meat onto his plate, even as the rest of them followed suit. They were seated in Yakiniku Q, which was very busy that night. She'd looked around and seen a lot of people she recognised, as well as some she didn't. For instance, she would swear black and blue that the party of four three tables over were all Uchiha, though since they'd all been wiped out in her own world, there was no way she would have ever met them before.

The atmosphere was upbeat and bubbly, Ino and Chouji were chatting about their last mission, bemoaning to Shikamaru that he hadn't been there. Sakura'd already realised that it was at about the same time she'd turned up in this world, so no prizes for guessing why Shikamaru hadn't been on their team.

"So Sakura," Chouji said. "Ino said you're a ninja, so how come you're not on the active roster?"

"It's classified," she told him, "but suffice to say, a mission went wrong, and I need to wait for authorisation to be able to go on another."

"That's such a bummer," Ino griped. "I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't go on missions. I mean, the shop's great and all, but I'm a kunoichi of the Leaf, and missions are kind of the point, ya know?"

"Well, hopefully I'll end up on rotation sooner rather than later," Sakura said, then changed the subject. "So Chouji, tell me about yourself?"

Twenty minutes later, and Sakura was still 'getting to know' Chouji, when Ino gasped beside her. "Sasuke-kun's here!" she squealed excitedly, causing Chouji and Shikamaru to groan in unison.

Looking over in the direction Ino was looking, Sakura saw Sasuke and Itachi, along with the people she guessed were their parents. They joined the table of people she'd been sure were Uchiha, and was now certain of it, too. Itachi noticed them, nodding in greeting to Shikamaru, and raised a brow at Sakura. Sasuke ignored them all, of course, though she could swear she saw his eye twitch in annoyance when Ino'd squealed.

"Oh great," Shikamaru complained. "Now it's gonna be all 'Sasuke this' and 'Sasuke that' from Ino for the rest of the night."

"Oh, shut up, Shika," Ino scolded. "Just because you're jealous that you're not all cool and sophisticated like Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura giggled, then shrank back when Ino turned a devious eye to her. "You're not interested in my Sasuke-kun, are you?" she interrogated. "Because if you are…"

"I can assure you, I have zero interest in _him,_ " Sakura said.

"So you've never been a Sasuke fan girl?" Chouji asked, earning a glare from Ino at the term.

"There was a guy I liked when I was younger," Sakura admitted, carefully choosing her words. "He was never interested in me then, but I thought he was so cool and tragic, and I was convinced that we were going to be married one day."

"Tragic?" Ino asked in an interested tone, while still keeping an eye on Sasuke.

"He'd lost all of his family," Sakura said. "But then he was gone for a long time, and when he came back, I realised that I didn't feel the same way about him any more, which kinda sucked, because he was actually finally interested in me."

"Why did he leave?" Shikamaru asked perceptively.

"Kinda like… an unofficial long term mission, you could say," Sakura said, glaring at the shadow ninja. "He still goes out on them, only it's more official these days."

"Well, I'm glad that you're not interested in my Sasuke-kun," Ino said. "I suppose having you around could be good, since we won't be competing for his heart."

Ino sighed blissfully as she stared over at Sasuke, even as Chouji said, "Man, I just don't get girls sometimes, ya know? What's so cool and great about someone like Sasuke anyway?"

As Ino glared at him and launched into a lengthy lecture on Sasuke's qualities, Sakura glanced over at the Uchiha table, only to notice that Itachi was looking over this way. He inclined his head to her and returned his attention to his family, even as Sakura returned hers to Ino, missing the way two of the Uchiha narrowed their eyes at her in suspicion.

OoOoO

He'd noticed her as soon as they stepped into the restaurant, of course he did. Noting who she was with, Itachi figured that she must have befriended the Yamanaka girl and her team mates. He watched Sakura and Team 10 interact, noting the ease with which she seemed to be doing it. Maybe they were her friends in her own world as well?

"Come on," his mother said, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Ayaka and her family are already here, let's not keep them waiting any longer."

The four of them moved through to where his aunt and uncle were with two of his cousins, and he noticed the exact moment Sasuke saw Ino. His otōto stiffened slightly at the sound of the girl squealing his name, before he studiously avoided even looking in that direction. Itachi made a mental note to tease him about it later as they settled into their seats. He nodded in greeting to Nara, then glanced briefly at Sakura before turning his attention to his family. Well, most of it, he couldn't help but watch this newcomer from the corner of his eye.

He had to admit, she intrigued him. Hokage-sama had allowed him to read some parts of the report Inoichi-san had written up. Itachi was impressed with the accomplishments she'd made in her own world, and he was quite curious as to what information had been left out of the report the Hokage had handed him. It must have been grim, because the man had simply said that the information was classified at a level only for Hokages and elders.

Still, reading up on events such as the invasion of Sound and Sand on the Leaf, which appeared to have mirrored their own experiences, provided a unique perspective on it for him. The mention of Hatake-san as the jounin instructor for her, his little brother, and Hokage-sama's son was something that was different here. Sasuke and Naruto's sensei had been one of his distant cousins here, and the kunoichi on their team had been an Inuzuka. Kiyoko had remained a chuunin once she'd reached that rank, and now worked exclusively with her clan's veterinary service, though she still caught up with Naruto and Sasuke every now and then.

As for Hatake… Well, the less said about his former ANBU taichou, the better.

Dinner passed normally, especially with his mother needling Sasuke about his 'admirer', as she called Ino. His father pursed his lips at this teasing, glancing over at the table the Yamanaka girl and her team mates were sitting with Sakura.

"Which girl are you talking about?" he asked suddenly, causing his wife to stop her needling in surprise. "Not the one with _pink hair_ , surely?"

Itachi glanced over and saw Sakura looking at them. He acknowledged her with a nod, and turned back to his family, only to find his father and brother glaring at him. "What?"

"Who is that girl?" Sasuke asked, then noted, "She was the one at the market the other day. You know her."

Sighing, Itachi told them, "Her name is Sakura. She was a part of my last mission."

"Is she a kunoichi?" one of his cousins asked. "I don't recognise her."

"She is," Itachi confirmed. "I apologise, but I really cannot go into more detail about her."

His father looked like he wanted to argue that point, but his mother put her foot down. "Enough," she said firmly. "This is a family dinner, please leave the subject alone, at least for now."

And her husband could do nothing but agree as they all turned back to enjoying the night out.

OoOoO

Shikamaru was 'walking her home.'

"Is Ino such a fan girl in your world?" he asked. "Man, she's so troublesome."

Giggling, Sakura said, "She used to be a Sasuke fan girl, but these days she's married to a guy named Sai."

"Never heard of him," was the response to that.

They walked in silence for a moment, then the ever observant Nara asked, "So who was the nuke-nin you liked?"

Sighing, Sakura said, "It was Sasuke."

"Ah, so you _wer_ e a Sasuke fan girl, then?" he noted, and she nodded.

"Due to certain circumstances I won't tell you," she told him, "Sasuke left the village. He returned four years later, the only reason he didn't get more than a short incarceration was the fact that there had been a war, and without his help, we all would have died."

"Yeah, that sort of thing could get someone off the hook," Shikamaru said. "For the most part. So, why did he leave again?"

"He's… following up leads," Sakura told him. "At least, that's what he says. I'm not too sure of the details, but he comes back once in awhile for reports. Asks me out every now and then, but I always say no."

"At the risk of sounding like Ino, why?"

Sparing him a quick grin, Sakura sighed and said, "Because the reason he wants to date me is not an acceptable one for me. Now, shall we set up a shopping date? I'm sure you're just dying to check out the latest fashions."

She laughed openly at the disgruntled look on his face, then stopped walking because they'd reached her apartment building. "Well, this is me," she said.

"Hn," was his reply, before he turned to leave, pausing briefly to say, "If you want to get some training in, Ino, Chouji and I will be at training grounds five in the afternoon."

"I'll think about it," Sakura said, and headed up to get some sleep.

OoOoO

 _In another Konoha…_

Kakashi sighed at the report in front of him. "She's a week overdue," the chuunin said. "I thought, considering who it is, you might want to deal with this personally."

Sighing, the sixth Hokage stared at the report. Sakura was overdue from the retrieval mission he'd sent her on. Considering that the scroll had been Tsunade-sama's, the sannin's apprentice had been the perfect choice to recover it. He knew there was no way she would have just taken off, so something must have happened. A squad would need to be sent out of course, but who to send?

 _Definitely_ not Naruto. For one thing, he was busy with his Hokage training at the Daimyo's residence. Maybe Sai and a couple of jounin? He might have sent Sasuke, but he was still out on his mission, and wasn't due to report in for at least a few more weeks. He knew that Sasuke had an 'interest' in Sakura that the young woman no longer reciprocated, and would be interested in her welfare.

"I'll look into this," he said to the chuunin. "You're dismissed."

The nin nodded and left, and Shikamaru came in once he was gone. "Do you want me to track down Sai?" he asked, alerting his Hokage to the fact that he'd been listening in.

Kakashi nodded. "And find a Hyuuga as well," he said. "I want you on that team too."

Shikamaru sighed before heading out. Leaning back in his chair, Kakashi hoped that nothing bad had happened, though he couldn't shake the sudden feeling that something somewhere had gone terribly wrong.

 **I had the most amazing (in my opinion) idea for a plot twist that I can't wait to write in. ;) The only thing is, it's much, much farther on down the line, and I'm annoyed that I have to wait. :( Though this isn't gonna be one of those stories that's fifty to a hundred chapters long (don't think I could manage it) I do hope to get a substantial amount done for this. There's at least two, maybe three, 'acts' to this, and we're only scratching the surface of the first one.**

 **Anyway, review please! ;)**

 **Quick note: Someone asked how old Sakura is, but if you read chapter two, there's a mention that the kyuubi attack was twenty one years ago. So Sakura is twenty one, verging on twenty two. I actually plan for her birthday to be while she's in the alternate world.**

 _Tsubaki: Camellia_

 _Ajisai: Hydrangea_

 _Kikyou: An Asian bellflower, also known as platycodon grandifloras_

 _Ikebana: Japanese flower arrangement, literally 'living flowers'_

 _Kadō: Literally 'way of flowers'_

 _Kōdō: Literally 'way of fragrance'_

 _Chadō: Literally 'way of tea'_

 _Yakiniku: Barbecue_

 _Itadakimasu: Means 'I humbly receive', equivalent to the saying 'Let's eat'._

 _Otōto: Little brother_

 _Taichou: Captain, commander, that sort of thing_


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone! So, if anyone's read any of my most recently posted stuff, then you'd know that I didn't have my laptop for three weeks. It wasn't the best idea to put it in for the new battery and disk drive just before Christmas, but what's done is done, right?**

 **Anyway, someone who reviewed the last chapter mentioned that Sakura was spilling too much. I thought about it, then decided it didn't matter. I've rationalised that it's not like she time travelled, and can't spill secrets for fear of changing the past. (My KakaSaku is covering that aspect) Besides, it's not like I'm gonna have her come out and yell for everyone to hear that she's from an alternate world. Only people who already know about it will be discussing it with her.**

 **In any case, if I was naming the chapters, this one would have been something to do with shadows. Partly due to Shikamaru, but also in part for the last bit of the chapter. This isn't as long as the last chapter, but there was nothing else I felt I needed to put in here. I'm gonna have enough issues with the next chapter as it is, as there will be fight scenes and I _really, really_ _suck_ at writing them. It's necessary for the plot, so I'm gonna tough it out.**

 **Alright, so enjoy this chapter, and remember that I'm not the one who owns Naruto. ;)**

 **Chapter Four**

Sakura kicked out hard, following through with a spin and another kick. Her opponent grunted as her foot connected, obviously glad that she hadn't put any chakra behind it. She grinned as he dodged out of her reach, moving quickly behind her, coming at her with a kunai. She dodged him, then her eyes widened slightly when she realised that was a diversion for the foot that came at her, connecting with her thigh.

Shikamaru smirked at her as they continued sparring ferociously. Chouji and Ino were sparring as well, on the other side of the training ground. This was the fourth time that Sakura had been invited out here to train with them, and just like in her own world, Shikamaru was her preferred partner of the three. It was the middle of the week now, and Sakura had been given the 'day off'. It hadn't taken her long to realise that was an excuse concocted by Ino so they could spar, because after that first day, Team Ten had decided that they liked sparring with Sakura.

At that first sparring session, Sakura had been thrown off guard a little when Sarutobi Asuma had shown up. Of course, with no active Akatsuki organisation here, he hadn't been killed by Hidan. She had no idea if Kakuzu had still attacked the Fire Temple for the bounty on that monk, but either way, Asuma-sensei was here, alive. Sakura hadn't even really been all that shocked when Inoichi had turned up for her interrogation, but something about Team Ten's sensei had thrown her for a loop.

Of course, acting nonchalant like she _hadn't_ been staring at him like she'd seen a ghost hadn't been all that convincing…

Asuma-sensei wasn't here today, he was apparently off on a mission of his own. A personal one, according to Ino, and Sakura wondered if it had anything to do with Kurenai. Did they still have Mirai? And if so, did she have any siblings yet? Sakura hadn't been able to find out, because Chouji had changed the subject after that.

Sakura had already come across some other alternates of her friends. Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino had been with Chouji on Sunday before leaving him to his training with his team. Shino had been silent, and Kiba more than a little flirty, but that was basically the same as the two Sakura knew. Also, she'd run into Tenten, quite literally, in the street the other day, as the Weapons Mistress had been in a bit of a hurry and hadn't been watching where she was going. After apologising profusely, she'd taken off once more.

There were some people she'd yet to see, like Naruto, Hinata, and Lee. Sakura was kind of dreading seeing Neji, worried she might have another 'stare-at-him-like-she'd-seen-a-ghost' moment, like with Asuma-sensei. There were people she knew that she'd seen in passing, like Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon, as well as people she'd _never_ met. Shikamaru had told her about Inuzuka Kiyoko, the kunoichi who'd apparently been Naruto and Sasuke's gennin team mate. Sakura'd never heard of her, though admittedly, it wasn't like she knew every single Inuzuka who existed.

Sakura was distracted by her thoughts, and this gave Shikamaru the opportunity to launch an all out attack, tripping her up, causing her to fall flat on her back. He was over her in an instant, kunai at her throat, smirk on his face.

"I win."

Sakura raised her hands in surrender. "You got me," she conceded, getting up once he moved away, stretching her arms and legs, cracking bones as she allowed a miniscule amount of chakra heal her. "You injured?"

"Che, it's nothing," he told her, but Sakura moved forward anyway, placing a hand on his arm and healing his bruises, as well as the wrist she'd sprained earlier.

Ino and Chouji had finished as well, and were headed over. Sakura gave them a once over, then Ino asked, "Swap partners now? Or should we take a break?"

"I vote for a break," Chouji said, pulling out a bag of chips. "You really gave me a workout, Ino, you're improving every day."

"Well, of course I'm improving!" Ino snapped at him. "That's the entire point of training, you baka!"

Shikamaru was about to speak, but then there was a poof of smoke next to them, putting them on the defensive. When it cleared, Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji relaxed, but Sakura still stayed slightly on guard. It was an Uchiha, that other one who'd been there that day she'd arrived, in fact.

"Uchiha-san," Shikamaru greeted him.

"What's up, Shisui-san?" Ino greeted.

Shisui (Sakura could swear she'd heard that name before) grinned at Ino, draping an arm over her shoulder. "Ino-chan," he greeted. "Still trying to get my little cousin's attention, I hear. You know it _hurts_ me right in my chest that you still won't even consider _me_ as a possibility, you know."

"Sasuke-kun and I are _meant to be_ ," Ino said haughtily, stepping out of his grasp. "You're just a pervert."

"Aw, you break my heart, Ino-chan," Shisui pouted, holing his hand over the spot, then a serious look crossed his face. "You three are wanted in the Hokage's office, with Asuma. I think you've got a mission."

"You _should have_ said that straight away," Shikamaru dead-panned. "Guess our training's over. Catch you later, Sakura."

He and his team mates left then, leaving Sakura alone with Shisui. "I don't believe we've _officially_ met," he said. "Uchiha Shisui."

"Haruno Sakura," she told him.

"You're pretty impressive," he told her. "I was watching your spar for a bit. Wouldn't mind taking you on myself."

"Oh really?" Sakura asked, eyebrow raised. "And just why should I indulge you in that?"

Shisui shrugged. "I've never gone against someone trained by a Sannin before," he told her, letting her know he'd been briefed on her. "Short of tracking down Tsunade-hime herself and demanding a match, you're the next best thing."

"You really know how to make a girl feel special, don't you?" Sakura asked sarcastically, then regretted it when he suddenly smirked at her in a way that reflected Jiraiya-sama whenever he spotted a pretty girl.

Shisui draped that same arm over her shoulder that he'd had over Ino's. "It's an accepted truth," he told her with a wink. "What do you say, Sakura-chan? Wanna spar with _Shunshin no Shisui_?"

That 'nickname' sounded familiar, and suddenly, it was like a light bulb went off in Sakura's head. "Wait a second!" she gasped, pulling away. "I've heard your name before in my world!"

Shisui grinned. "Glad to hear my reputation's still so good there," he said, sidling over to her to place his arm over her shoulder again. "Come on, Sakura-chan. If you know me, then surely you want to spar? Haven't I given you this opportunity before? Shame on me."

With that last comment, Sakura knew that, despite the fact he'd most likely been briefed on her, that report was probably 'censored' to exclude some things, like the Uchiha massacre. Otherwise he'd know that she'd _never_ met him before. Sakura sighed.

"Fine," she said. "If you want to spar, we'll spar. But not now. I'm already exhausted from sparring with Shikamaru and the others."

That wasn't entirely true, but experience from training with Sasuke told her that if she was going to spar with an Uchiha, she'd wanted to be fully rested first. _Especially_ since she'd never sparred with him before.

Shisui pouted. "Fine," he huffed. "When would be best for you then?"

OoOoO

 _In the other world…_

The team that had been assembled to go after Sakura had taken some time to track down her last known location. It had then taken a day and a half to find the site of a battle that carried all the hallmarks of Sakura letting loose on someone, as it was quite remote. There were also signs of the fight the nukenin put up, and even a corpse. It seemed that Sakura had won her fight then. So where was she?

The Hyuuga Shikamaru had brought with him had already searched the immediate area, but had come up empty handed. Sai had already sent out some birds to scout past the Hyuuga's range, and even they weren't finding anything. The analyst in Shikamaru had already come up with a few different scenarios, but he hadn't been able to settle on one. Every scrap of evidence was being collected, and would be analysed by a specialist team once they got everything back to the village.

"Was there any sign of the scroll?" Sai asked as he came up, one of his ink birds perched on his shoulder.

"Not a sight of it," Shikamaru said. "All we've found here is a rotting corpse, stray weapons, and a few paper bombs."

Sai picked up one of the now deactivated paper bombs and examined it carefully. "These do not look like the usual exploding tags to me," he said. "The seals around the kanji are wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"Here look," Sai said, holding it up. "This one here should represent the timer for the explosion. Instead, it represents a point in space. The timer is on completely the other side, which _should_ throw it off."

Shikamaru snatched the tag from Sai's hand. _How had he missed that_? And it wasn't the only deviation, either. This was _not_ an ordinary exploding tag. He sighed, glancing over to where the chuunin he'd brought along to do the menial work was still searching the site.

"It can be analysed properly back in Konoha," he said, putting it back with everything. "In the meantime, have your birds found anything?"

"There's no sign that Sakura left here after her fight," Sai said, using Sakura's _actual_ name in her absence. "I would suggest she used the ANBU destruction jutsu, but I am unaware as to if she even knows it."

"So troublesome," Shikamaru scoffed. "Sakura's _jounin_ , not ANBU, so I doubt it."

"Then perhaps her disappearance has something to do with Jukodo Osamu?" Hyuuga Tokuma said, coming up to them. "Shikamaru-taichou, I've completed my search, and there's no sign of Haruno-san anywhere past this site. Only her tracks leading _into_ her fight."

"Shall I send word to Hokage-sama that we have not found her?" Sai asked, and started writing out the missive when Shikamaru nodded.

"Man, when Naruto and Sasuke find out, they're gonna hit the roof," Shikamaru said as they went back to clearing everything up. "Che, troublesome idiots."

OoOoO

 _Back in the alternate world…_

A ninja knelt, head bowed before an old man who was bound in bandages. The report he'd given had been completed a few minutes ago, but he'd yet to be dismissed. The elder before him, who was no longer officially involved in Konoha's business, was thinking, plotting scenarios and figuring out how to twist them to his benefit. Shimura Danzou was a dangerous, calculating man, which was one of the many reasons the Hokage had forced his hand into retirement years ago.

Not that Danzou had completely complied. Without the Hokage's knowledge, he still influenced ROOT, working even further in the shadows than before. This meant that he didn't have access to the Hokage's movements in as much detail as he had before, but he was working on remedying that.

News of some pink haired kunoichi hadn't really come onto his radar, at least, not until one of his operatives was able to get their hands on a report about her. It was incomplete, missing a lot of details, but it told Danzou all he needed to know. This kunoichi, Haruno Sakura, was a danger to him, and needed to be fully 'assessed'. And he had the perfect person in mind for that job.

The only thing was, she was constantly under the watch of ANBU. It wouldn't have mattered _before_ , he could have easily slipped one of his own in. But since ROOT had been officially disbanded years before, his resources were scattered, with only a few actually remaining in ANBU. Still, there was one piece he could play, an agent that was still in ANBU, one he'd had put under a mind control jutsu a long time ago.

Deciding to utilise him, Danzou turned from the shinobi before him, retreating to his sanctuary to plan out his first move.

 **So, some nitty-gritty is going on. Danzou's appearance is gonna be covered in part one and three of this fic. Part two won't deal with it much, though it will still be influenced by him.**

 **Wish me luck with Shisui and Sakura's spar!**

 **Anyway, review please! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**New chapter!**

 **So anyway, I've been dreading writing this one, thanks to the fighting scenes. Though it's not a grand and descriptive thing, I still hate doing it. But I had a bit of luck that it seemed to flow easily for me. This time. I'm _really_ dreading writing up the bell test in Crossroads, let me tell you. :(**

 **In any case, disclaimer and enjoy, folks!**

 **Chapter Five**

Sakura was required to be at the flower shop for work up to and including Friday, so she set her 'spar date' with Shisui for that following Saturday. With Ino away on a mission with her team, it was just her mother in the shop with Sakura. Yamanaka Asami was a lot like her daughter in personality, both in Sakura's world, and in this one. At least, it wasn't apparent until a friend of hers arrived and the two spent over an hour gossiping, leaving Sakura to handle any customers that came in during that time.

Not that Asami-san was deliberately leaving Sakura on her own, she'd asked her if she was alright with minding things before she turned into a brown haired, brown eyed version of her daughter.

Once Saturday morning dawned, Sakura was up early, eager but also apprehensive about sparring with someone who had the reputation that Uchiha Shisui had. She had no idea just how intense it would be. Maybe they'd start off with taijutsu, no special abilities, then move on to bigger things?

His sharingan and his speed would be considered the largest 'tools' in his arsenal, just like her chakra enhanced strength and her medical abilities would be hers. Maybe after getting a feel for one another's movements, they would move on to them? She grimaced as she brushed her teeth, knowing that her fighting style was not generally suited to fighting someone with top notch speed. Sure, she was able to keep up with Kakashi-sensei in their spars, but she'd always had the feeling that he was holding back just that little bit. With his speed, not anything else. She'd clock him for holding back like that, Kage or not.

There was a knock at her door, and Sakura quickly spit out her toothpaste, rinsing briefly before going to see who it was. Opening the door, she was met with the sight of Shisui, a huge grin on his face.

"Saku-chan!" he greeted her with the name he'd 'decided' he'd call her that other day. "You ready yet?"

"What on earth are you doing here?" she demanded. "We were going to meet at the grounds at seven thirty, but it's not even seven yet!"

"Oh, come on, Saku-chan," he said. "I was up early today, and I was going _nuts_ waiting for our spar to start."

"Well you can keep waiting," Sakura said. "I'm not ready yet."

He eyed her up and down, and Sakura felt her eye twitch. "You look ready to me," he noted her fully dressed state.

"I haven't even eaten yet!" she told him, immediately _not_ liking the grin on his face.

"Alright then!" he said, grabbing her elbow and hauling her out of the apartment. "Let's go have breakfast then!"

The door barely shut as he basically frog-marched her out of the building, then down into the street. "Shisui! What is going on with you?"

"Nothing!" he told her earnestly, then admitted, "The training grounds we were going to use were booked before I could get to it in time, so I figured we'd have to use one of the Uchiha ones if you still want to spar."

Sakura groaned. "Am I going to need to do the whole 'meet the Uchiha' just so I can get in?" she asked.

"Why Saku-chan, what a thing to say," Shisui murmured, winking down at her and causing her to poke him painfully in the ribs. He grunted and let go of her, before continuing, "No, you don't have to do any grand 'meet the family' thing, but you do have to make sure that you only go in _with me_ so that no one will come and kick you out, or arrest you as a trespasser."

"So I have to stick with you, is that what you're saying?" Sakura asked doubtfully.

"Because you're a _newbie_ , yes," was the answer. "Besides, I already cleared it with the clan head, so we just need to keep you 'visible'."

He led her to the food district where he sat them down in a stall and ordered a traditional Japanese breakfast of gohan, miso shiru, natto, yakizakana, tsukemono, nori, and kobachi. The portions were small enough to keep it from being too indulgent a meal, though large enough that you weren't left hungry. Shisui insisted on paying, once he realised that he'd pulled her out of her apartment without any money.

"Though this isn't a date," he told her, then said slyly, "Unless you _want_ it to be?"

Sakura punched his arm for that. Seriously, though, it was like he was a large child whose only maturity stemmed from his poor flirting abilities. She supposed he put all his seriousness into his missions, and only acted like this at home.

Once breakfast was done with, they headed over to the Uchiha compound. The guard at the gate gave her a strange look, before giving Shisui a stern look and letting them through otherwise unmolested. It was strange for Sakura to see the site of a lively, fully functioning Uchiha district, when she was so used to run down buildings and a general air of 'depression' that hung over the one she knew. Children were skipping through the streets, women were gossiping in front of homes… It was surreal.

She'd also noticed that the ANBU still watching her _hadn't_ followed her into the compound.

Back in her own world, Sasuke hadn't really had much done to clean the place up. Sakura had no idea how he could stay in such a depressing place. Well, when he was in the village, anyway. She knew the house he stayed in was well kept, even when he was gone, Tsunade-shishou and then Kakashi-sensei sent in the occasional gennin to keep the outside looking less like a graveyard, and more like someone _actually_ stayed there, however infrequently.

Consumed with her thoughts, Sakura hadn't noticed that Shisui had already led her to a training ground. Looking around, she saw that it was just that bit out of the way, and large too. There were signs that it was a well-used spot, a few singes from katon jutus here and there, with some cracked trees as well. Looking around, she saw that it was also a little far off from the rest of the compound, giving a sense of privacy to it as well.

"This is the main training ground that I use to spar," Shisui said. "Mostly with Itachi, and sometimes Sasuke, too. It should be perfect for our use, though I have to ask you not to mess it up _too_ much. The report I read said you could demolish boulders and such… I _like_ this training ground, Saku-chan."

"Fine," Sakura agreed. "Stretches first?"

"Of course."

OoOoO

Itachi was enjoying a rare day of not having his father and the clan elders breathing down his neck. The main reason was, they were all sequestered in a meeting, one that was likely to take all day. Other than perhaps a break here and there for lunch and such, the house would only have himself, his mother and Sasuke today. Speaking of his mother…

"Tachi-chan?" came her lilting tone. "Is Shisui-kun coming around today?"

"No, okaa-san," he told her. "I believe he is sparring with a new partner today."

"A new partner?" Mikoto asked, coming into the room where her son was sitting seiza style, enjoying a cup of green tea. "Why haven't I heard anything about this yet?"

"Relax, okaa-san," Itachi said. "There was just someone that Shisui was interested in sparring with, that's all."

"Really?" Mikoto asked. "Who is this person? Do they know what they're getting into?"

"She can handle herself," Itachi said, then regretted it when his mother's eyes got a glint in them.

" _She_?" she asked, then closed her eyes briefly, coming to a decision that Itachi wasn't sure he wanted to know, regardless of the fact he was sure to anyway. "Tachi-chan, I want you to go invite them over. Once they've finished sparring of course."

"For what purpose?" he wondered.

"Because, Shisui-kun _never_ spars with just anyone," his mother said. "And also, when was the last time he interacted with a girl, _without_ hitting on her? Or _just_ hitting on her? I want to meet her, end of."

Sighing, Itachi put his now empty cup down onto the chabudai in front of him before standing. "Very well, okaa-san," he spoke. "I'll head over to where they are now."

" _Make sure_ that she comes over," Mikoto said sternly. "And make sure that Shisui doesn't make _t_ _o_ _o much_ of a fool of himself with this girl."

With that, she returned to what she had been doing before.

Sighing, Itachi made his way out to the training ground he knew Shisui had intended to use. His cousin had moaned to him the other day about the fact that the area he wanted to use wasn't available, until Itachi had told him to just bring her here. Shisui had grinned at the idea, and told him that he was a genius, something he usually only did for the most ridiculous reasons.

As he approached the private Uchiha training field, he could hear the sounds of sparring, and decided to watch awhile before making his presence known. Truthfully, he was just as curious to see Sakura in battle as Shisui had been, even if only for a spar. So he checked his chakra signature and hid himself in a tree, sharingan activated so that he could study the otherworldly kunoichi's technique and form.

OoOoO

They started off with taijutsu, just as Sakura suspected. Shisui's form was flawless as he punched and kicked out at her, but hers was as well. Sakura kept her chakra out of her hits, so that when she spun out to kick him, she didn't break any of his ribs when the kick connected and he went backwards. He grinned at her and lashed out with a kick of his own, his foot lightly grazing her arm as she dodged.

Soon after that, Shisui kicked his speed up a notch. Sakura compensated by putting small amounts of her chakra into her hits which, when they connected, were guaranteed to leave painful bruises in their wake. Thanks to the upped speed, she was finding it more and more difficult to avoid him, and ended up having to go on the defensive. He was merciless, increasing his speed every now and then until the moment when his foot swept out, tripping her, causing her to land ungracefully on her back with a startled 'oomph'.

He was on her then, kunai in hand. "You know, this looks just like when I saw the Nara beat you the other day," he smirked at her. "Guess it means I win."

"Of course you do," Sakura muttered, getting up once Shisui stood back.

She dusted off the seat of her pants, checking herself over briefly for injuries. Speaking of, Sakura offered when she saw Shisui wince, "Want me to heal the bruises?"

"Sure," he told her, letting her come forward to heal, then groused, "Man, you sure pack a punch, Saku-chan!"

"You can thank my shishou and her training for that," she told him. "I may not have as much speed as you do, but my strength is designed to make up for that."

"You're plenty fast," Shisui said. "I mean, not _my_ kind of fast, but still. Hey wait, since you trained as a medic, that means you should have excellent evasion skills, right?"

Sakura nodded, suspecting where he might be going with this. "So show me then," he said. "If I just come at you and you evade, I want to see how long it would be before I could get you on the ground again."

"Without me wasting any time on attacking, it should take you a little longer," Sakura confirmed. "Alright, ready then?"

The two immediately changed their stances, Shisui to offensive, Sakura to defensive. As soon as Shisui moved, Sakura leapt out of the way, keeping herself out of his reach. He was starting at the same speed he'd started with originally, and just like before, he gradually built it up until Sakura was hard pressed to evade his attacks. Every now and then, she had no choice but to block, and every time she did, she came that bit closer to defeat. Soon enough, Sakura was on the ground once more, but it had taken a bit longer than before for him to get her there.

"I win again!" Shisui grinned at her. "I was right though, you're _much_ faster when you're just evading. Hey, Itachi! What did you think?"

Sakura turned then, slightly startled at the sight of the Uchiha heir leaping down from a nearby tree. "Not bad," he said. "If Sakura-san could work on her speed more, then she'd have a real chance at taking you down."

Shisui pouted. "But Tachi-chan!" he almost but didn't quite whine. "I'm your cousin, you should be on _my_ side for this!"

Itachi cocked his head at his cousin. "I wasn't aware there was a need for sides," he said.

Watching them, Sakura felt like she was watching _her_ Naruto and Sasuke interact. Well, maybe if Sasuke was a little more like Sai, but without the blunt crassness he sometimes displayed. Still, their dynamic was fascinating, and as she watched them argue (well, Shisui was the one arguing, Itachi was just calmly riling him up) she couldn't hide the grin. Even though she also felt a pang of homesickness for her boys at the same time.

Speaking of…

"Nii-san!" came the call of Sasuke's voice. "Okaa-san wants to know what's taking you so long."

He looked over and saw Sakura then, his expression turning to a frown. "What's _she_ doing here?"

Shisui grinned at his cousin. "Saku-chan and I have been sparring," he said. "Wanna watch?"

"Why are you wasting your time sparring with some outsider?" Sasuke demanded.

"Don't be rude, Sasuke," Itachi said, poking his forehead. "Sakura-san has been giving our cousin a good workout."

Sasuke looked over at her, doubt still on his face. Sakura turned to Shisui. "Wanna move on to weapons now?"

"Sure," he said, pulling out a scroll. "I've got a whole bunch stored in here. What's your preference?"

Sakura thought on that. "Well…" she mused. "Admittedly I don't use weapons that often on missions. But when I train, usually I prefer a kodachi or tonfa. Well, other than kunai or senbon."

There was a puff of smoke as Shisui undid the seal on the scroll. "Ha! You're in luck," he said. "I've got two sets of tonfa here. How about we start with that? Or do you just want to go with kunai?"

"Tonfa," Sakura said, then noted one of the weapons in there. "You have a chokutō! You don't usually see those outside shrine offerings and wall hangings these days. Er, at least, I think."

She looked over to Shisui, who nodded in confirmation. "It's my pride piece," he told her, then mock frowned at her. "So hands off!"

Sakura just rolled her eyes. "Let's get back to sparring, shall we?"

OoOoO

Itachi was impressed with Sakura's knowledge of weapons. The fact that she recognised a chokutō for what it was wasn't the main thing, but the fact that she knew it was a retired weapon… At any rate, he glanced at his otouto and saw that he was begrudgingly impressed as well. Shisui and Sakura then got into their stances and their spar began. Sakura's movements were fluid with the tonfa, she handled them well, though not expertly. He suspected that she used them to train with a weapons expert.

Shisui was doing what he'd done before, starting off slower, then building up his speed. He felt Sasuke shift next to him, and knew that he was impressed with Sakura's abilities, just as much as he himself was. The spar inevitably ended with Shisui as the victor, but Sakura had gotten plenty of hits in on his cousin, so there were a few injuries here and there that she healed. Itachi had noticed near the middle of their fight, Shisui had activated his sharingan briefly in order to avoid one of her strikes, which had ended up only missing him by a hair.

"Three in a row," Sakura was saying. "I don't think I've had three losses in a row like that since my early training with shishou."

"I feel honoured to be compared to your shishou like that," Shisui smirked, then turned to the brothers, who'd been watching. "Alright, so I guess the main reason you two are here is because Mikoto-oba heard about our spar, eh? Hey, Saku-chan, wanna have lunch at the Main house?"

Sakura looked intrigued, but Itachi inwardly winced in sympathy for what she obviously didn't realise was about to happen.

 **So, Sakura's gonna have to 'meet the family' after all. ;)**

 **Anyway, review please! :) And here's a little glossary for you all.**

 _Gohan: steamed rice_

 _Miso shiru: miso soup_

 _Natto: fermented soy beans_

 _Yakizakana: grilled fish_

 _Tsukemono: pickled vegetables_

 _Nori: seasoned dried seaweed_

 _Kobachi: vegetable side dishes_

 _All of the above from a Japanese breakfast site._

 _Okaa-san: Mother._

 _Seiza: Sitting on your legs, Japanese style._

 _Chabudai: Tables with short legs used when sitting on the floor._

 _Nii-san: Older brother._

 _Kodachi: Japanese short sword, too long to be a dagger at less than sixty centimetres long._

 _Tonfa: Wooden weapon without blade, 15 to 20 inches long._

 _Chokutō: An older, single edge sword pre-dating the katana._

 _Otouto: Little brother._

 _Oba: Suffix meaning aunt._


End file.
